LSK sued for allowing State officers to vie for female slot at JSC
Lawyers Bernard Kipkoech (left), Omwanza Ombati, Eric Theuri and Carolyne Kamende. They are vying for LSK presidency in the March 10 polls.
A lawyer has moved to court seeking to stop the election of the Law Society of Kenya’s (LSK) female representative to the Judicial Service Commission (JSC).
Mr Clifford Keya says the polls planned for tomorrow are invalid because the LSK elections board allowed three “unqualified” candidates working with government agencies to participate in the contest.
In the petition certified urgent by High Court Judge Anthony Mrima, the lawyer wants the elections suspended until his case is determined.
He says the board erred in allowing the nomination of lawyers Jacqueline Ingutiah, who works at the Kenya National Human Rights Commission (KNHRC), Anna Konuche, an assistant director at the Kenya School of Law, and Christine Kipsang, who works for the National Environment Tribunal.
“The three work for agencies that fall under the Executive and the Judiciary. Their employers are effectively represented at the JSC by several commissioners. The slot for LSK representative is intended to represent the interest of Advocates at JSC,” Mr Keya argues.
He sued them alongside the Attorney-General, LSK, and the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), which will oversee the polls.
Mr Keya says Ms Ingutiah and Ms Konuche are conflicted as they work for statutory bodies that are already represented at the JSC by the Attorney-General.
He says Ms Kipsang is also conflicted because she works for an agency that is under the Judiciary, which is also represented at JSC by several representatives from the Supreme Court, High Court and Magistracy.
“The nature of the employment of the three cannot allow them to independently represent (the) interests of advocates at the JSC. Thus (the) LSK board erred in allowing them to vie and the decision should be quashed and in the meantime the election of LSK representative to JSC be suspended,” he argues.
The representation sought by the trio, he argues, will duplicate that of the Attorney-General and the Judiciary.
“Their subsequent clearance to participate in the election is flawed and therefore null and void from the beginning,” he states.
He says the three lawyers are unqualified to run for the position, adding that Article (6)171 of the Constitution requires members holding offices in commissions not to hold any other office or employment for profit.
The other contestants for the lucrative position are lawyers Julie Soweto, Jane Nyaboke and Mercy Atieno, who are in private practice. The position arose following the exit of Ms Mercy Deche, whose five-year term expired last year.
